Google Instant: The Headlines and Quick Takes

Google today introduced what many are calling a major evolution in search interface today, sparking a landslide of commentary about the impact on SEO, mobile, competitors, search share, revenue, you name it. It's a lot to digest, and as much as I'd like to have a definitive statement on…

Google today introduced what many are calling a major evolution in search interface today, sparking a landslide of commentary about the impact on SEO, mobile, competitors, search share, revenue, you name it.

It’s a lot to digest, and as much as I’d like to have a definitive statement on Google’s move to “instant search,” I don’t. Yet. I prefer to use it for a while, and think on it a bit more. I will admit that my initial response is more “meh” than “WOW!” – but then, I can’t really back that up. In the main, I think any major shift in search interface that is still predicated on typing inside a command line is most likely not going to change things much.

Then again, there are scores of folks who don’t share that half-formed sentiment. Here are some of the most prominent:

It may be a simple thought – but to me instant search will now shape people’s search phrases. Will that create a narrower group of phrases people will use to search with? I would suspect so – but then wouldn’t their using the suggested phrase just be more votes for the popular/most common phrases and thus narrow the range of possible phrases used?